Blessed Disasters
by lorddior
Summary: Why we should never call disasters..well, disasters. SBRL AU
1. Chapter 1

Hi :)

I know. I still need to finish 'Becomes of', but I just couldn't help it.

Well, I dunno why I chose to post this when I wrote this only today, and I have a dozen other fics in process, but yeah :D

This one is…just really light reading and writing in that matter )

Still I hope you enjoy it, and reviews are love!

* * *

Remus sighed as he looked at the surroundings around himself.

This was beyond disastrous.

What had once been nothing more than plain, bright blue, red, yellow paint was sprayed all across the floor, and most of the paint was mushed together, forming a slightly blackish brown that wasn't pleasant at the slightest.

But that wasn't the major problem, Remus reminded himself as he looked around closely, squinting at corners and bending over to look under furniture. How in the name of god was he going to find five rodents that weren't any larger than his own pinky finger?

"Remus-" something, or rather, someone tugged at him.

"Yes, Mary?" he replied distractedly, still trying to get his arm under the bookshelf. "What's wrong?"

"I cut my finger." the little girl whined. "It hurts-"

Sighing Remus fumbled at the front pocket of his apron, and searched for a bandage, which he could not find.

That's probably because you have so much bandages on your hands already, he told himself bitterly. He was never gifted in cutting and pasting, after all.

"Mary, why don't you ask Lily for a bandage?" he asked kindly, as he tried to turn around and look at the girl. "I don't think I have any right now."

"But Lily's not here-" Mary whined again. "She's not here!" she suddenly shrieked, sending Remus to bump his forehead against the bookshelf.

"Oof!" he frowned and rubbed his forehead. Where the hell was Lily?

"Mary," he tried once more. "I'm trying to find Pinky right now."

"But Pinky's in her cage!"

"No she isn't." Remus said, finally managing to slip his arm under the bookshelf. "Davie accidentally opened the cage, and everyone is out."

Mary gasped. Finally the girl was understanding.

"Gone?" Mary repeated.

"Yes, gone." Remus replied patiently, thumping his hand around under the shelf. "Pinky, Donny, Pony, Ruby, and Ronny are all gone."

"Oh no!" Mary gasped like a typical six year old.

"Yes, oh no." Remus muttered, stretching his arms farther under the shelf to reach the corners.

"Remus!" another call.

"Yes, Lauren?" he called out, wincing as something sharp poked his index finger. Probably a nail from last week's art project.

"I found Ronny!" the other girl shouted. "And Joe found Pony!"

"That's great, Lauren!" Remus tried to smile, but the nail kept interfering.

"I'll show you!" Joe shouted in glee, and footsteps that indicated that he was running vibrated through Remus' chest that was pressed flat against the floor.

"Okay..Just be careful! You don't want to.." but he never got to finish what he was going to say as a shriek interfered.

"Joe?" Remus tried to look behind in surprise, but his arm got caught under the bookshelf and made an odd ankle. He winced.

"Joe crushed Pony!" Lauren continued to shriek. "Joe you idiot!"

"Lauren!" Remus managed to shout. "Joe are you all right?"

"...you stupid big fat pig! Pony's dead!" Lauren continued, and soon Remus heard Mary start to wail.

"Lauren!"

"She's not dead!" Joe shouted, near tears. "Look! She still stands!"

"That's disgusting!" Lauren shrieked once more.

And then it was just a jumble of tears and shouts and screams, and Remus wished he could just get his arm out to block his ears.

"I'm back!" there was a sudden voice from the door way.

"Tommy?" Remus asked, trying to turn around and failing once more. "Is that you? Where's Nymphadora?"

"Tonks?" Tommy asked, too brightly for the situation. "I dumped her in the pool!"

"What?!" this was getting out of hand.

"Ooh!" Tommy said joyfully, ignoring Remus' surprised shout. "Is that chocolate?"

"What?" Remus asked, desperate to see what Joe was talking about. "What chocolate?"

"On the floor!" Tommy giggled. "But it has red paint all over it..."

"That's not..." Remus yanked his arm out, and felt his arm burning.

"Argh!!" Tommy made a choking sound. "It tastes like poopl!"

Remus, finally being able to get up and turn around turned around to see Joe crying with a squashed red object, Lauren pointing a finger at Joe and shouting something incoherent, Mary just wailing like mad, Davie, the one who had caused the escape of the rodents, was curled up in one corner fast asleep and Tommy who had the mushed up paint all over his mouth and hands.

"Tommy!" Remus ran over. This was not good.

"I think I'm gonna throw up.." Tommy muttered before bending over and spraying vomit all over.

Great, Remus thought as he heard a frustrated scream and cry from the hallway. At least now I can check if Tommy didn't eat any more puzzles.

"Tommy Helcher!" a very pathetically wet and shivering Nyphadora screeched as she entered the room. "I am going to kill you!"

"Oh yeah?!" Tommy managed wiping his mouth. "You and what army?"

"Me and this army!" Nymphadora shouted, running over and punching Tommy exactly on the left eye.

"Nymphado..." Remus started, trying to pull Nymphadora off of Tommy who was now being beaten up in his own pool of vomit.

"It's Tonks!" Nymphadora turned and screamed at Remus. "Tonks! T-O-N-K-S! Tonks! My parent's last name! Don't call me by Nym-" as Tonks was distracted, shouting at Remus, Tommy managed to switch positions and was now pushing Tonks face first into the pool of vomit.

"Eww!" Lauren screamed. "Is that puke?"

"Argh!" Tonks roared, face still in the vomit. "What have you been eating?! Your own poop?!"

"Apple sauce, you dummy!" Tommy shouted.

"Remus, I'm ba- What in the name of god is going on?!"

And Remus did not have to turn around to see who it was who had just entered the room this time.

* * *

"Tough day, huh?" Lily asked, handing Remus an ice bag.

Remus nodded miserably.

"You'll get used to it." Lily tried brightly. "It's difficult on the first day."

"You mean to say I just get used to all this chaos?" Remus asked, putting the ice bag down on his arm that was raw red after getting caught under the bookshelf with too much force, and wincing.

"Well, sort of." Lily smiled and shrugged. "I mean, look on the bright side. You'll at least be prepared when you have your own kids, you know?"

"I don't think I'll ever have any kids, Lily." Remus sighed. "They scare me too much."

"But you can have them."

"Maybe." Remus nodded. "But I'd have to adopt them if I want one."

"Adoption's good." Lily reasoned.

"Yeah, it is." Remus agreed, and then decided to change the subject. "So, is everyone gone?"

"Nope." Lily replied joyfully. "Well, Tonks and Tommy are talking to Mrs. Harney right now. You know," she made quotation marks. "'The Talk' every child must have."

"I don't follow." Remus frowned. "It wouldn't involve a bird and a bee though, right?"

"They're too young for that!" Lily laughed after commenting in mock disgust. "But anyway, you're going to find a very tearful and guilty pair of children once Mrs. H is done with them. Always works." she winked.

"Do their parents know about what happened?" Remus asked, vaguely amused and wondering how he may react if finding out that his child had been fighting in a pool of vomit.

"Yup." Lily nodded. "They're gonna come soon, but I think I'm going to have to take Tommy to his house. His parents work, you know."

Remus nodded. "And I guess I'll have to stay behind and wait till Nymph-Tonks' parents come?"

"Well, yeah," Lily smiled apologetically. "because Mrs. H won't stay after."

"Fine." Remus sighed, but smiled nonetheless.

"Thing is, Tonks' parents won't be coming either." Lily added.

"Do I have to drive her?" Remus asked, horror struck. "You know, I can't drive and take care of a distressed child at the same time..."

"No, her uncle would be coming." Lily cut Remus off. "He's a old friend of James. James, my fiance, you know?"

"Yeah, I know." Remus nodded. After all, he had known Lily since highschool, and he was also introduced to James quite some time ago. "So I guess there won't be much trouble, huh?"

"Yup." Lily grinned. "He's a nice guy. Tonks' uncle, I mean. Won't be upset about Tonks and take it all out on you."

"Of course he won't." Remus nodded with a smile.

Just then, a wild sob broke out from Mrs. H's office.

"And there we go." Lily said, peering into her wrist watch. "Thirteen minutes and fifty one seconds. That's a record. They must be developing some sort of immune system."

* * *

"I'm hungry." Tonks muttered grumpily, wrapping herself closer to her coat. "And cold."

Remus sighed.

"I'm sure you are." he stood up to go to his desk. "Want an apple?" he asked, taking out an apple he got this morning as a welcome gift.

"You keep apples in your desk?" Tonks asked.

"Well, yes." Remus replied, feeling oddly embarrassed. "I just got it today, and well, apples are good to eat..?" his defence ended up more like a question.

"My uncle keeps bananas in his desk." Tonks said, ignoring Remus' dumfounded look and continuing proudly. "And it never rots!"

"That's..." Remus tried to think of an appropriate word, as he absently rubbed the red surface with his sleeve before handing it to Tonks. "...interesting."

"It's cool!" Tonks agreed, taking a big bite out of the apple. "My mum can't keep a fruit fresh even if she puts it in the refrigerator, but Uncle Sirius doesn't need that."

So Sirius was the name of the uncle who kept bananas in his desk. Strange name, Remus decided. Must be from Greek mythology.

"Does your uncle always come to take you home?" Remus asked as he watched Tonks take another bite. "Chew and swallow before you answer."

Tonks obeyed with a slight frown, and started to speak as soon as she swallowed.

"Yeah." she nodded. "Mum and dad are never able to come. My mums an opera singer, and my dad's in America for his company."

Okay, Remus frowned a bit. What an odd couple and an off family.

"Uncle Sirius doesn't have to perform during evenings, and lives near, so he takes me to school and brings me back home!" Tonks took another cheerful bite, and Remus started to wonder if he could eat an apple the same way Tonks did even after knowing that he had just bathed himself of what were the remains of apple sauce.

Remus wanted to ask what Tonks' uncle, Sirius' job was, but he decided it was inappropriate, and besides, if he was a friend of James' he would probably be the same sportsman of some sort.

"He's here!" Tonks suddenly stood up, shouting in glee.

Sure enough, Remus saw a sports car gliding towards the entrance of the building.

Tonks stood up, apple still in her hand, and ran out of the office, out to the building.

Remus hurriedly grabbed his coat to follow her out.

Remus was never much into cars, but at first glance, he could tell that this car in front of his very eyes was something that would cost more than he would ever earn for his entire life.

"Uncle Sirius!" Tonks ran down the steps of the building screaming all the way.

A tall and extremely handsome man with black hair appeared from the car. He was wearing a suit that was, as much as his car, probably very expensive.

He kneeled down as Tonks ran right into his arms.

"I heard what happened, Tonks." he said, standing up with her still in his arms. "I don't think Andromeda's going to be very pleased." he said in a serious, yet cheerful voice.

"Yeah, I know." Tonks said, holding onto the man's neck, and getting apple juice all over his shirt collar. Remus winced inwardly, but seeing as the man himself didn't seem to mind, Remus was positive that he just didn't care for clothes in general, loved his niece or just was so rich that he couldn't bother to be concerned of some shirt that would be a treasure to others.

Remus saw the man catch his eyes, and whisper something into Tonks' ear, which made her giggle.

Lowering Tonks back onto the ground, the man extended a hand to Remus with a dreadfully charming grin.

"Hi. I'm Sirius, Tonks' uncle."

"Hello." Remus took the hand, feeling oddly embarrassed. "I'm her new teacher."

"So, you're new, aren't you?" Sirius asked still grinning. "I thought so. Never seen you before."

"Yes, well. I am new." Remus tried to smile, but felt his whole face stiffer than usual.

"Well, I hope she hasn't caused you too much trouble." Sirius said, landing a hand on top of Tonks' head. "I heard she got into a fight, which would already be trouble itself, but still."

"It wasn't her fault." Remus replied honestly, and regretted taking sides. "I mean, it is wrong to fight, but still. She didn't start it." he was finding speaking suddenly a very difficult task as Sirius continued to look at him.

"Well, I heard she got 'the Talk'." Sirius said somewhat gravely, but still smiling nonetheless. Remus wondered if he was the only person who knew nothing about 'the Talk'. Obviously it was quite a notorious thing.

"Yes." Remus nodded.

"But I wasn't the one to cry!" Tonks butt in around a mouthful of apples. "It was that idiot Tommy who cried."

"Language, Tonks." Sirius warned. "Well, we better be off." he turned to Remus. "Thank you for taking care of her."

"It's my job." Remus said, finally managing a smile he feared he had lost.

"Still, I know she's a handful." Sirius opened the door of the back seat for Tonks, as she hopped in. "Could I give you a ride home?" he turned to ask to Remus once more.

"Oh no, no thank you." Remus replied, taking a step backwards.

"It's late." Sirius pressed. "It's okay, come on."

"No, it's really okay." Remus said, taking two involuntary steps backwards, waving his hands. "I actually have to wait for my co-worker to return."

Sirius seemed vaguely disappointed, but soon covered everything up with a shrug.

"You're talking about Lily, right?" Sirius asked, walking around the car to open the door to the driver's seat.

"Yes." Remus replied, remembering that Lily and Sirius knew one another.

"Well," Sirius said grinning once more. "I'm positive that James is going to come and pick her up, and then you'll be alone." he raised an eyebrow suggestively. "Still don't want a ride?"

"No thanks." Remus smiled, at least grateful for the offer. "I have the keys to the building, and I'll have to wait for her anyway."

Sirius sighed and shrugged one last time, before getting into the car.

"I'll see you later, then." he said, lowering the window of the assistant's seat, and looking up to Remus.

"Yes, I suppose." Remus replied. "See you tomorrow, Nymp- Tonks." he added, turning to look at the seat behind.

"Bye!" Tonks replied, and soon the car was gliding out of sight.

Remus let out a sigh before returning into the building.

* * *

"What's his name?" Sirius asked Tonks, as he peered through the rear mirror just to catch a last glimpse at the man with golden brown hair.

"Remus." Tonks replied, taking another bite on the apple that had now turned into a light shade of brown. "Why?"

Sirius shrugged.

Remus. He mouthed the name, and smiled. That was as much an unusual name as his. Remus- he tried again, and found that it was easier to get used to than he thought.

That man, his nephew's new teacher was just too much for Sirius and his reckless, impulsive self. He felt like this might be what 'love in first sight' was, as everyone called it. Although Sirius wasn't able to capture how Remus would move his arms, and where his laughter would start from, he did recognize that the man was very beautiful. He was very thin, and did look a bit tired(but then again, who wouldn't after chasing littles brats?), but he had a very delicate face and body that kept coming back to Sirius' mind. He would definitely want to meet him again, or maybe even more.

Remus- he mouthed once more, and did it over an over again.

"Uncle Sirius?" Tonks' bewildered voice broke his thoughts. "What are you saying?"

Realizing how strange mouthing something like a fish out of water would seem, Sirius shut his mouth and muttered the name only inside his mind. "Nothing."

"Oh." Silence fell. "You're weird."

"And so are you." Sirius replied jovially. "Everyone in our family is. No big surprise."

"Weird." Tonks pressed and snickered.

"Yeah." Sirius grinned. "So, did anything special other than the fight happen today?"

"I made the git Tommy get a nosebleed." Tonks replied proudly. "Or nosebleeds. He was bleeding from both nostrils."

"Good girl." Sirius laughed. He knew he shouldn't be encouraging his young niece, but he just couldn't help his nature. "But that's included in the fighting category."

"Oh." Tonks seemed to be thinking. "Nothing else then. What 'bout you?"

"Me?" Sirius asked, giving Tonks a wicked look by the rear mirror. "I don't know, Tonks, do you honestly want to hear about my day spent in an office, trying to defend my clients who are absolutely impossible to defend in any way possible, and then trying to buy the mercy from cold blooded judges as a last priority?"

"Argh no!" Tonks replied, squinting her eyes shut and clasping her small hands over her ears.

Sirius chuckled. "Thought so."

"You are weird." Tonks whispered in horror, trying to squeeze opened an eye, but closing it back in haste as Sirius laughed once more.

"I know."

* * *

Hope you enjoyed it!

As I said earlier, reviews are loved :D


	2. Chapter 2

Hi everyone :)

So, here's chapter two. It may be horrible, but it's an update nonetheless ;P

Hope you enjoy it! Please review.

* * *

"And she was a very nice mouse." Mary sniffed, as she threw a daisy onto the small shoe box that now lay under the small whole dug up in the playground.

They were holding a small 'funeral' for Pony the rodent who had been crushed from the unfortunate incident of the day before.

"She wasn't a mouse." Lauren rolled her eyes. "She was a hamster."

"No, she was a mouse." Mary retorted, breaking into sobs once more.

"You're stupid."

"Lauren!" Remus was horror struck by this particular child, and only two days had passed since he had met her.

"I'm not stupid!" Mary wailed. "She was a mouse!"

"Stupid." Lauren continued in a sing song voice. "Stupid, stupid Mary. Who has a brain like a berry."

"Lauren!" Remus said, trying to sooth Mary who began sobbing more violently. "Stop it. That's not nice to say to your friend."

"-stupid Mary who'll never get married, unless Mr. Hairy turns up with a very stupid little cat called Larry-"

"I'm not stupid!" Mary shouted between sobs.

"Of course you aren't, Mary." Remus tried, as he glanced around desperately for Lily who had just taken Davie to the bathroom.

"Yes she is." Tommy cut in. "And so is Lauren. Pony was a guinea pig."

"No she wasn't, you dork." Lauren said, turning her attention to Davie. "She's too small for a guinea pig."

"Pony was a pig?" Joe butt in, clearly confused and surprised.

"No, you dummy." Lauren frowned. "And you don't get a say about Pony 'cause you squashed her to death, you big fat dummy."

"Lauren!"

Oh thank goodness, Mrs. H was here to the rescue.

All children froze immediately.

"What did you just say to Joe, Lauren?" Mrs. H asked in an imploring voice.

"Umm..." Lauren tried. "Nothing?" she looked up to Mrs. H with suddenly innocent eyes that only turned into guilty ones.

"A talk with you, Lauren." Mrs. H ordered. "Now."

"No!" Lauren suddenly actually looked and sounded her age. "No, please, not the Talk! No!"

"Lauren, don't be ridiculous and follow me to my office now." Mrs. H said without the slightest sympathy.

"But.."

"No 'but's." Remus saw Lauren as well as everyone else cringe. "Now."

As Lauren was dragged away sobbing, silence was left among the remaining children and Remus.

"I feel sorry for Lauren.." Mary whispered, eyes teary and wide with terror.

"She's so dead." Tonks, who had been surprisingly well mannered and quiet today, muttered as she shook her head in a tragic manner.

"So last weeks' meat." Tommy nodded in agreement.

If one of them getting 'the Talk' made the children get united, Remus thought it wasn't so bad at all.

* * *

Remus was currently walking around the small classroom, looking over children as they silently made clay pots.

'Silently' seemed a very unlikely word for these children, who Remus doubted were even children, but then again, Lauren continuously sniffing and weeping in the corner may be the reason to this unfamiliar atmosphere.

Remus was a man who loved the quiet and calm, and had been surrounded around it until he ended up in his first job after college. If silence had become something unfamiliar to him already, it meant that this job had a serious problem.

"Remus!"

Remus turned around to find Lily calling him from the doorway.

"Could you help me prepare the snacks?" Lily whispered, smiling as she watched the silent children.

Taking once last glimpse around the class, and deciding it would be safe to leave them for a short while, Remus nodded and walked out the room with Lily.

"They seem to have calmed down, huh?" Lily asked quietly as they walked into the office.

"Yes." Remus nodded. "I think it's because of the Talk Lauren got."

"I've never seen her cry so much." Lily said with a small giggle. "But I guess it was about time that she got some discipline."

They reached the office, and Remus saw that there was quite a lot more snacks than yesterday.

"I decided that they needed some cheering up." Lily said, as if she had just read Remus' bewildered mind. "So, I made it a bit of a special."

"Are they allowed to have sweets for snacks?" Remus asked carefully, eyeing the small bars of chocolate that were placed on the plate along with crackers and baby carrots, fruits and yogurt.

"Sure." Lily shrugged. "Why not?"

"I just thought they weren't allowed to have them." Remus replied, when he was fearing how children would turn out when they were dosed with sugar.

"It'll be fine." Lily smiled, handing half of the plates to Remus. "Besides, they need to get some energy. They have one more art class and then gym after recess, you know."

* * *

Remus sighed heavily as he tried to scrape off the clay that had just been thrown into the wall.

He had feared this to happen. That was why he was doubtful of dosing the children with sugar.

Still, he thought to himself. You would have expected that running around wild during recess time would have used up all the sugar.

"Remus-" came Mary's whine. "Tommy put clay into my nostrils!"

As he turned around, Remus heard a wild cackle from Tommy which made Remus shiver and get goose bumps.

CRACK

"Argh, Tommy you idiot!" Tonks growled. "You broke my plate!"

"Yeah, so?" Tommy stuck out his tongue. "It was ugly any way!"

CRASH!

"You..what y'do that for?!" Tommy shouted.

"You did it to mine!" Tonks shouted. "And mind you, you'll be hearing from my uncle!"

"Isn't it 'you'll be hearing from my lawyer'?" Joe asked, perplexed.

"My uncle is a lawyer." Tonks replied.

So, Sirius was a lawyer, Remus mused. But soon decided that this was not the right time to think about Sirius, unless Remus had to call him to Mrs. H's office.

"Please, don't you guys know any manners?" Lauren sighed in a very mature voice. Remus was going to lose it. If only the Talk had such astounding effects to the others as it did to Lauren..well, maybe Remus would not just have been hit with a lump of wet, sticky clay on the back of his head.

Groaning, he tried to get rid of the clay from his hair, but it ended up getting even more tangled up.

He must not have been the only one to have clay hit him, because he heard Lauren scream in rage.

"You are such babies! Look at my shirt! It's covered with clay!"

SPLOSH

"And that was for your big fat butt!" Tommy cackled. He must really have developed a highly effective immune system to the Talk seeing how he acted all day, and the small amount of chocolate must have been some sort of energizer for him.

"Come on, Lauren!" Tonks shouted. "Snap out of that goody goody stuff and back me up!"

And it didn't take Remus to be a genius to recognize that Lauren was no longer hypnotized when he heard another different cackle from the earlier one and a loud SPONK before a cry of pain.

* * *

Lily must have been guilty after she saw the catastrophe by the end of art class, because she promised to give her shift for reading time and take gym class for herself, which had been Remus' shift.

As Remus prepared himself for reading class, he looked out the window to see how Lily was handling the children.

He dropped the fairy tale he was holding and howled in pain as it hit his right foot.

The children, all lined up in a circle were tossing balls to one another, with angelic expressions that Remus had once believed all children were born with and wore until puberty struck.

Feeling utterly miserable, he picked up the book and walked into the bathroom to wash out the remaining pieces of clay that still stuck onto his hair.

* * *

Remus had no idea why Lily thought he would be better off with reading time, because it evidently wasn't really reading time when he was reading for them.

More like nap time, he thought bitterly, as he watched Tommy's head bend a couple of more times before he toppled forward right onto Tonk's back.

"Eww get off me, you freak." Tonks said, pushing Tommy away from her back, sending him flat on his back, snoring. Tonks herself seemed too tired to even bother to laugh or do anything further, and settled down on looking up at Remus.

"So what happened next?" she asked with tired eyes.

"Oh, right." Remus looked back onto the page. "And then the Baby Bear said, 'Look! Somebody broke my chair'..."

"Can't you be a bit more funny?" Tonks asked. "Everyone in the story has the same voice."

Remus sighed, and looked up from the book.

"I'm too tired for that, Nym-Tonks." he replied wearily, and felt his remaining energy drown as he looked around him to find everyone sleeping.

He honestly felt like he was going to let go of the book he was holding as he felt his fingers go weak.

Sighing, Remus got up, went to the office, and checking that Lily wasn't there, took his book from his bag, and hurried back into the class room that was now indistinguishable between reading and nap time.

* * *

"Remus, I-" Lily froze as she saw the dead quiet classroom.

"Hey, Lily." Remus said, not looking up from his book. "Come on in."

"Wow." Lily quietly walked into the room, trying not to step on toys, clay, and children. "What have you been reading them?" she peered at the book Remus was holding. "'Decline and Fall'? Remus, they're six year olds."

"This is my reading." Remus explained. "I read them the one about the three bears and Goldie Locks, but they decided my reading voice was boring." he sighed.

"They're probably too used to my reading voice." Lily said encouragingly. "That's probably why."

"Well, at least I got some rest thanks to them." Remus stretched in his chair as he got up.

"Good." Lily grinned for a moment before her face fell. "Though I'm not sure if the parents will be happy. They always expect us to tire their children out so that they won't have to deal with them."

Remus stopped stretching to stare at Lily.

"They want their own children to be tired out so that they won't have to deal with them?" he repeated incredulously.

Lily shrugged.

"I guess they're not really that interested in watching their young run around. Which is quite sad if you ask me." she tried a sad little smile.

* * *

Sure enough, that day when mothers came to pick up their very energetic and fully loaded children, they weren't very happy.

"Ow, Tommy!" Mrs. Helcher shrieked as Tommy jumped around, pulling at her. "Okay, wait, wait a moment. Mummy's feet hurts. Not so fast!"

No wonder, Remus grimaced as he swept the floors, as Lily said goodbye to the children. She wears heals that would break anyone's ankle.

As he heard no longer the sound of children shrieking and jumping, but only low murmurs of adults, Remus decided it was safe to go out now.

Lily was talking to a familiar figure, and Remus didn't need a moment to recognize the tall figure.

Lily turned around, caught Remus sneaking into the office and called.

"Oh there he is. Remus!"

Remus turned around, for some reason, guiltily.

"Yes?"

"Sirius wants to talk to you." Lily winked. "You know, Tonks' uncle?"

"Right." Remus muttered before coming up to Lily and Sirius.

Remus, for some reason, could not look up at Sirius. With clay and dirt and everything else all over him, he strangely felt very embarrassed. What he was embarrassed of, he did not know. After all, he was used to not being in an appropriate state and still didn't mind going around practically everywhere. Maybe it was just that Sirius was too well dressed and appropriate compared to himself.

"So, I'll leave you two do talk, and I'll be in my office." Lily said cheerfully as she marched into the office. "Oh, and Remus? I'll be staying afterwards. You can go early."

"Thanks." Remus managed, but he doubted that he really was thankful at all. He strangely felt that he was being set up.

Silence fell, and Remus looked anywhere other than at Sirius, which was really quite ridiculous and rude. He caught Tonks looking up at him with a confused frown, and finally turned to look at Sirius.

Sirius was grinning widely at him, that it almost frightened Remus for a moment. Of course, there was no reason to be frightened since Sirius wasn't smiling like a murderer in horror movies, who had knives behind their backs, but still, that kind, bright grin gave him shivers for some reason.

"Hello." Remus finally said, trying to smile as well.

"Hi." Sirius replied, still grinning. "How was you day?"

Remus, still feeling very awkward, with difficulties managed a smile, which was a very difficult one that made his face grow tenser.

"Fine as always." he tries.

"Really?" Sirius feigns surprise and grins broadly. "I heard that Tonks and the others gave you quite a rough time."

Remus looked down at Tonks, who was grinning both wickedly and guiltily at the same time now.

"No," Remus smiled a bit more easily. "Actually, Tonks gave me the least hardest time. She was the only one listening to me during reading time."

"I told you!" Tonks said to Sirius. "Lily wouldn't have known how I was during reading time. She wasn't the one in the room!"

"Well, I doubt that Lily didn't have a proper point." Sirius continued. "I guess the rest of you were just disastrous." he turned to Remus with the same broad smile. "But you'll get used to it after a while."

"That's exactly what Lily told me yesterday." Remus sighed. "I don't think I'm getting the hang of it yet."

Sirius let out a laugh.

"It's only been a day! Give yourself some time!"

"Well," Remus replied, feeling a blush for no particular reason. "I hope you're right."

"So, you're going home?" Sirius asked.

"Well, I guess." Remus replied with a shrug. Someone's interest in his life, he thought with amusement.

"And dinner?" Sirius asked, and Remus thought he had never seen anyone with such lack of discreetness.

"Umm..I'm not sure." Remus replied, and that was true. He usually didn't have dinner because, well, he never had enough to eat at home, and more than that, he just didn't enjoy eating nor cooking. He could manage the eating part, but when it came to cooking, he was just all thumbs.

"You aren't having dinner?" Sirius asked in very obvious surprise.

"Maybe." Remus replied raising an eyebrow.

"Sorry." Sirius apologized hastily. "I just thought that it was obvious that you had to have dinner. I mean, after spending the entire day with kids."

"He doesn't eat much." Tonks cut in. "We've never seen her eat so far."

True, Remus didn't eat much during lunch as well, but how in the world that Tonks know that? She was busy running around with the rest of the class during recess time.

"I'm a terrible cook." Remus managed, shrugging. "And I just don't like to eat much."

The last of his words seemed to have made Sirius lost for words, and a strange expression that oddly reminded Remus of a child who had just found out that Santa did not exist crept up to those handsome features. He seemed strangely hurt, disappointed, and nonplussed. And Tonks, who looked up at her uncle, seemed very disorganized and puzzled as well.

"Well then," Remus finally cut off the awkward silence, as the other two stood there, dumbstruck and clearly thinking about some unknown matter very hard. "I better be going. See you, Tonks and Mr..."

Sirius seemed to have snapped out of his thoughts as Remus was clearly trying to address him.

"Black." He grimaced. "But I've already told you my name."

"Only your first." Remus corrected.

"Well, then you should just call me by my first name." Sirius said, trying to grin that charming grin, but clearly not finding it easy as before due to the recent 'shock' and 'ground-breaking news'. Remus found this all quite ridiculous, but dared not show it. "Besides, you haven't told you your name as well."

"Oh, I didn't?" It was Remus' turn to be surprised. How could he have forgotten to introduce himself when the other had already done so? "I'm terribly sorry. My name's Remus Lupin."

"Remus." Sirius smiled at the name that was already long familiar on his tongue. How many times had he replayed that name last night and today? His colleagues had looked at him in the strangest way during work today when he had called his client 'Mr. Remus Worthwood' instead of 'Mr. Rolland Worthwood' during the trial.

Remus smiled as he was a bit disturbed as much as he was amused to see Sirius mouthing his name over and over again.

"So," he finally spoke up, and was a bit startled to see Sirius once again quite normal and paying attention. "I'll be going now. I'll see you both tomorrow." and he hurriedly rushed out of the building, not even bothering to take his bag with him. He had the keys in his pockets anyway, and there wasn't much point in embarrassing himself by going back into the office and coming out again.

* * *

"How can somebody not like to eat?" Sirius exclaimed incredulously, as he violently picked at his pie. "I mean come on! Who doesn't like food?"

"Remus evidently doesn't." James shrugged.

"He never really liked food that much." Lily nodded.

"And you!" Sirius suddenly turned to James as if he hadn't been listening to either of them. "How could you not tell me that you knew such a guy?"

"I don't really know him, you know." James said, pushing the fork directed to him in another direction. "It's Lily who's known him for a while now, and you're not allowed to point that at her!" he added as Sirius turned the fork to Lily with glinting eyes.

Sirius let out a long sigh as he let go of the fork and wrapped his hands around his head instead.

""He's just perfect." he muttered. "I wish I would have known him sooner."

"Well, nothing's wrong about knowing him now." Lily shrugged, and sighed as Sirius looked up at her with miserable eyes.

"Okay, so maybe it would have been great to know such a guy like Remus sooner,"

"And for you to help me know such a guy." Sirius cut in.

"but, as I was saying, there are reasons why I didn't tell you about him. For one, you didn't seem to need anyone to hook you up with someone" Sirius snorted, but Lily continued. "it's true, so stop snorting. Anyways, and second, it hasn't been long since I actually knew his preferences."

"So, he is like Sirius?" James asked.

"Yup." Lily nodded. "In every way possible, also I doubt that he'd be as perverted as Black over here."

"I am not perverted." Sirius grumbled.

"Whatever." Lily replied waving a dismissive hand. "Just be thankful that he actually is gay."

"Remus is gay?" Tonks suddenly piped up from her pie.

"And I doubt this is an appropriate conversation to have when having a six year old for company." James said.

"I'm not six years old." Tonks retorted. "I'm turning seven."

"In the next eleven months." Sirius added. "You just had your birthday, and you're not turning another year older anytime soon."

"Well, it's not like I can't listen to you guys talking." Tonks pressed valiantly.

"Oh, no you can't." Sirius argued. "Now, cover your ears because I have some more to discuss with James and Lily."

"I don't think so." Tonks replied testily. "I'm eating, and I have to use both hands."

"Then use your napkin." Sirius replied. "Stuff it in your ears."

"I only have one." Tonks said blankly.

"I'll give you mine." Sirius picked up the napkin from his lap and handed it to Tonks.

"Please, stop being so childish." Lily scolded but laughed nonetheless. "Honestly, I can't believe you're supposed to be one of the most well paid lawyers in Great Britain."

"Hmph." Sirius snorted. "Never underestimate the great Sirius Black."

"Oh mighty Black." James feigned awe and adoration as Sirius raised his arms in a very godly way.

"Oh, yes, the almighty god who has failed to see what Remus actually wants." Lily rolled her eyes. "I guess you wouldn't be needing my help in getting to know what Remus actually enjoys other than being taken out for dinner like most."

"Lily!" Sirius exclaimed with desperation on the edge of his once confident voice. "Please, I'm begging you! Do you want me to get down on my knees? In the middle of a public restaurant? With no dignity of whatsoever?"

"Although that does sound fun, no. That's for James." Lily snapped. "He's supposed to do that, not you, Black."

James gloated with pride.

"And I guess I can spare your miserable soul." Lily sighed. "He likes the theatres."

"The theatres?" Sirius repeated. "As in plays, musicals, operas?"

"All of them." Lily nodded. "He likes to read, obviously. He doesn't seem to really like clubs or parties.. and that's pretty much all."

"He can't be that simple!" Sirius exclaimed.

"You're right." Lily smiled evilly. "He has a lot more to get to know. The rest is for yourself to find out."

"But I can't just take him out for a play!" Sirius whined. "It'll be too obvious!"

"Like you aren't being too obvious already." James commented. "The face you and Tonks wore when you came out of the building with Lily. It was just comic. Remus isn't stupid. He'd know what you're thinking of by now. It's bloody obvious."

"Still, I can't. It's a universal rule!" Sirius insisted.

"Well, how about this." Lily cut in. "Since Remus doesn't like to eat, why don't you take him out for a nice opera first, and then when you two get a bit more friendlier and when he seems willing, then take him to dinner afterwards. He wouldn't appreciate you continuously suggesting to have dinner with you when he doesn't want to."

"Brilliant." Sirius said, obviously less miserable now. "So, all I have to do is ask him out?"

"Well, yeah, but I think you should let some time pass first." James cut in.

"What d'you mean?" Sirius asked sharply, turning to James.

"He means that you should get Remus more comfortable with himself before you 'ask him out'." Lily replied. "He stiffens up when he sees you. Not a good idea to just bolt up and ask him out any time soon. You'll freak him out."

"He stiffens up?" Sirius asked, clearly not having heard anything after those words.

"Yes." Lily rolled her eyes. "Did you even catch what I said after that?"

"He stiffens up.." Sirius repeated, eyes out of focus with a dreamy expression pasted firmly on his face.

"Is that a good thing?" Tonks asked.

"Supposedly, yes." James replied, eyeing Sirius worriedly. "Although I'm not sure."

"He's just too weird for the normal human being to understand." Lily commented nonchalantly. "Let him be."

* * *

So...end of chapter 2.

I told you it's disastrous haha

hope you liked it, still :)

Please review!!


	3. Chapter 3

Hey everyone :)

Here's the update. I hope you enjoy it.

Please review!

* * *

Although Remus doubted this was really an appropriate thing to do as a teacher, he did know that this was the only way he could maintain enough energy to go home after classes.

And so he allowed himself to push away the children's books that were offered to him by Lily, and brought his very own collection of the books he strived while reading even in high school.

"...But even yet I refrained and kept still. I scarcely breathed. I held the lantern motionless. I tried how steadily I could maintain the ray upon the eye. Meantime the hellish tattoo of the heart increased. It grew quicker and quicker, and louder and louder every instant. The old man's terror must have been extreme!"

Remus kept reading with vague interest of how the children could be sleeping in the climax of 'the Tell-Tale Heart' as he watched Tonks finally topple to the floor muttering "Villains! Dissemble no more." and wondered how in the name of god Tonks knew the very last line of the story.

Sighing, Remus closed the book shut, and stretched before opening 'the Gingerbread Man' to place on his lap, starting to read in a very tired voice, which no longer mattered, seeing the children were already asleep.

Remus smiled to himself, half relieved and half guilty for his deeds. Still, he couldn't bear actually handling these children who were hyper energetic because there wasn't PE today.

Getting up with a slight sigh, and helping the children lie in a more normal and comfortable angle, he headed to the office.

"They dozed off again?" Lily remarked, not even looking up from the letter she was writing probably for some child's mother, who Remus didn't know.

"Yes." Remus replied, slipping 'the Tell-Tale Heart' back into his bag without having Lily noticing.

"Strange." Lily muttered. "They didn't get the chance to run around much today."

"Yeah, well, I guess they just don't like my reading." Remus said absently, as he pulled out 'A Separate Peace' from his bag, and started to read silently.

"Hmm.." Lily hummed. "Maybe I should take over."

"Yeah..." Remus nodded absently, before Lily's reply finally got fully registered. "Excuse me, but what did you say?" he tried in the calmest voice possible, which wasn't much of a success.

"I mean, we can't have them sleeping during every reading time, just like that." Lily explained. "If your reading isn't agreeable with the kids, I think it'd be better to switch shifts again."

Remus stared blankly at Lily, before settling that his absent comments had caused this decision from Lily.

"I'll practice." Remus pleaded. "It must be because I don't actually act the voices. I'll make sure I change my voice."

"You hate voice acting." Lily raised an eyebrow. "It insults 'real drama'." she mimicked Remus voice with exaggerated motions.

"I can still do it." Remus pressed, ignoring Lily's mockery and giggles. "You know I can."

"Someone's desperate." Lily snickered. "Okay. They always said you were good at voice acting."

"Thank you." Remus sighed, opening his book again.

"So, how are y'doing with Sirius?" Lily asked bending over the letter again to hide her smile.

"Pardon?" Remus asked distractedly.

"Sirius." Lily repeated. "Tonks' uncle."

"Oh." Remus realized that he wasn't paying attention to the book anymore. "Umm..fine. He thinks Tonks is giving me a hard time."

"Doesn't she?" Lily asked, laughing to herself as she caught Remus fumbling with his book.

"Well, she causes me the less trouble, really." Remus saw the chance to change the subject. "The really troublesome ones are Tommy and Lauren. I've never seen such kids like the two. I sometimes wonder if they're even children. I'm sure they're good kids, but they seem to be a bit..."

"Remus, don't change the subject." Lily cut in, looking up from her letter to face Remus once more.

"I wasn't." Remus replied. He did not like the look on Lily's face. "What do you expect me to say?"

"I asked 'how are you doing with Sirius?', Remus." Lily repeated.

"What do you mean, how am I doing?" Remus asked. "That's the sort of thing I should be asking about you and James."

Lily shrugged. Clearly Remus was sensitive of topics related to Sirius. He didn't seem uninterested though, so it must be that he really is sensitive of this subject.

Remus sighed.

It had been about a week since he had first met Sirius, and after that disastrous evening about Sirius asking him about why Remus didn't have dinner, things were pretty much back to normal.

Sirius still stopped by to say hello, and Remus still felt rather awkward and embarrassed, but Sirius didn't make anything more awkward than Remus already felt. They had actually had quite a nice chat about the book Remus had brought to read the children a few days ago. It was 'The Bluest Eye' by Toni Morrison, and Remus was actually quite surprised that Sirius had not only read it, but enjoyed it as well. It gave Remus a slightly new view of Sirius, since Sirius had revealed quite an unexpected aspect, which perhaps even made Remus feel slightly more comfortable talking to Sirius. Still, nothing remotely special or memorable happened after that.

Sighing once more as he wondered why he even bothered to give so much thought about Lily's question he didn't answer properly anyway, Remus opened his book to continue to read.

"What do you think of him?" Lily asked after a while, when Remus finally was able to get back to his book.

"Lily." Remus started. "What do you want from me?"

"Nothing." Lily replied in an almost too innocent voice. "I was just asking."

"Lily." Remus replied. "I can't give an answer to that even if I wanted to. I haven't talked to Sirius other than greetings, and the only thing I can tell you of him is that I may be quite surprised about him."

"Oh?" Lily asked, eyes gleaming.

"He reads Toni Morrison." Remus shrugged. "I'm bound to be surprised."

"He reads Morrison?" Lily asked, quite surprised herself, and wondering if James knew that as well. "He? The Sirius Black reads Morrison?"

"He must read her." Remus replied. "He seemed to know quite a lot about her writing."

"He.." Lily started, quite startled by the new piece of information, before settling to accept the fact. "Well, he is a lawyer, and he did go to a prestigious school, so maybe he did read her. Maybe."

"Right." Remus replied, inwardly wondering what being a lawyer and going to a prestigious school had anything to do with a person reading Morrison.

"You know," Lily said as she peered into the clock. "I think it's almost time to end your reading, or rather, nap time."

* * *

Note to self, Remus thought as he picked up a toy after everyone left for home. Never read them Poe or anything difficult when reading time wasn't the last class of the day.

Remus didn't understand how children could be so energetic and create a scene that resembled a city that went through a nuclear attack, but he silently thanked god that they had at least not let the rodents loose one again.

Feeling his knees hurt from continuously bending over to pick up toys, candy wrappings, and sometimes things that seemed suspicious like human teeth, Remus did not register that, as he straightened up after picking up a teddy bear, he lost balance and stepped on a toy ambulance as he stumbled back.

When he finally registered that he was falling ungracefully onto the floor, he did not realize the pain on his right foot and ankle before he actually spent a good minute or two lying on the floor.

It fully registered him that he must have sprained his ankle, and possibly embedded the exterior shape of the ambulance toy on his foot when the pain was already spreading from his ankle and back.

Groaning at the thought of having to call a cab to go home today, Remus got up, minding not to take too many steps on his right foot.

Maybe the ice bag would make the ankle a bit better, he thought as he hopped on one leg, out of the classroom. It should do. He didn't want to spend his money on a cab when it would take less time and money to walk home instead.

* * *

"He said he was surprised?" Sirius asked, not sure if he should be pleased or insulted.

"Yes." Lily replied. "And I'm also more than surprised."

"Does that mean that I was being underestimated?" Sirius asked, still not sure of how to react.

"Don't take it the wrong way." Lily snapped, and fell into thought. "Although, yes, we were very surprised that a punk like you would actually read Morrison."

"That's definitely an insult." Sirius frowned.

"Well, it's not his fault that he's surprised." Lily started. "Does James know this?"

"I'm not insulted that he was surprised." Sirius commented before snorting. "And yes, James bloody well knows that I read Morrison. It's his fault that I started reading her anyway."

"Oh?" Lily raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "And how's that?"

"He dared me to finish 'Beloved' and give him an essay on it." Sirius shrugged. "As if I couldn't bring myself to read it. Ha! The look on his face when I actually did finish and gave him the essay."

Lily decided that Sirius was truly a strange man, and decided to ask whether Sirius didn't plagiarize the essay, but something else caught her eye.

"Remus?" she asked, gasping as she saw Remus hopping into the office in a horrible and agonized state. "What happened?"

"Strained my ankle." Remus replied, trying desperately to reach the refrigerator without falling. His left knee felt like it was about to buckle at any moment.

"You what?" Sirius asked, horrified.

It was then that Remus realized that Sirius was in the office, obviously in mid-conversation with Lily, and it didn't take long for him to see Tonks sitting happily in his chair, munching on a pear that Remus swore was inside his desk.

"Umm..It's nothing." Remus replied, speeding up to hurriedly grab the ice bag and get out of the office. "Just strained my ankle. That's all."

"Can you walk?" Sirius asked, worry clear on his voice as he watched Remus yank open the refrigerator door and rummage through it.

"Oh, yeah, it's perfectly fine." Remus replied, feeling his face heat up even when his head was in the refrigerator, which he doubted was even close to warm.

"Remus, what are you looking for?" Lily asked carefully.

"The ice bag." Remus replied through gritted teeth as he felt his finger sticking to freezing steel. "Dammit. I can't find it."

"Remus..?" Lily called carefully, dragging Remus away from the refrigerator and pushing him into her chair. "Isabelle accidentally ripped it today."

"Who's Isabelle?" Remus asked, perplexed and panicked.

"You don't know her. She's from a different grade." Lily replied. "Anyway, we don't have an ice bag at the moment."

Remus felt the air escaping his lungs. What the hell was he going to do?

"Let's see how bad it is." he vaguely caught Lily speak and soon felt hands rolling up the hems of his trousers.

Remus wondered if he had really strained, not broken, his ankle as he saw the horribly swollen, red ankle being revealed.

"Are you sure it's not broken?" Sirius asked, obviously worried himself.

Lily carefully examined the ankle before finally speaking.

"I don't think it's broken. It's just badly strained, that's all." she stood up. "Come on, let's get you home."

"I need to clean up the rest of the classroom." Remus replied, not knowing why he suddenly felt the urge to do so.

"Home, Lupin." Lily said sternly. "I'll clean it up later."

"Can I at least pack my bag?" Remus asked, trying to get up, and nearly toppling down onto the floor as soon as his feet met the floor. How stupid of him to land on both feet.

"I'll do it for you." Lily replied, heading to his desk.

Remus did not catch the evil glint in her eyes that met Sirius.

"Sirius, could you help Remus up?" she asked, grabbing Remus' bag and putting in his books.

"Sure." Sirius replied, deciding that he shouldn't be too joyful of the opportunity provided, since Remus was hurt at the moment.

Remus didn't know whether he hated Lily or felt despair from the situation. Hopefully he wouldn't do anything even more stupid due to nervousness or any other foolish feeling.

"Here." Sirius was already next to him, offering a hand which Remus took, hoping his hands weren't too sweaty. "Put your arm around my shoulders."

Remus decided it was a rather difficult task to do so, while standing on one foot and when Sirius was quite a bit taller than himself.

He felt his arm slipping off the neat suit before a strong hand grabbed hold of his wrist and placed it securely on the shoulder.

This was just embarrassing.

Remus felt even more embarrassed by the fact that Sirius would be able to see him blushing close up now that he had an arm on Sirius' shoulder, and Sirius was holding him by the waist.

"Okay, we're done." Lily finally said when she felt that they both would have settled into a comfortable position by now.

Sirius smiled at Remus, who tried to not catch his eye.

"You okay?" he asked softly.

"Yes, I'm fine, thanks." Remus replied, barely managing to speak up enough to sound more than a mere mumble. "Sorry."

"No need." Sirius replied jovially, as he smiled once more before asking. "How are you getting home?"

"Probably by cab." Remus replied, absently following Sirius' lead out the office with Lily in front and Tonks behind them.

"Oh." Sirius frowned. "Well, I guess you do have not much of a choice."

"I guess." Remus managed to semi-shrug.

Silence fell, and Remus heard nothing but Lily's heels making clicking sounds on the floor of the building and Tonks munching rather messily on the pear.

"Could I give you a ride?" Sirius asked suddenly. "I mean, it would be better than a cab."

"Yeah, Remus." Lily agreed, abruptly falling out of silence. "Why don't you ask Sirius to drive you home?"

"I really think I'll be fine with a cab." Remus replied, feeling himself blush even more. "Besides, it would be too much trouble for Sirius, when he's going through so much trouble already."

Sirius chuckled.

"I wouldn't have asked if it were troublesome for me." he said, holding tighter onto Remus' wrist as it slipped off his shoulder. "It's fine. Really."

"No, really..." Remus tried to oppose before Lily turned around suddenly to face him.

"Just take the ride, Remus." Lily said in a sweet voice, which did not match her rather threatening glare that read 'I'll kill you if you reject the offer.'

Remus nodded slightly, feeling uncomfortable and ashamed at the same time.

"Right, then." Sirius said joyfully. "Lily, could you give me Remus' bag?"

Lily handed Remus' bag to Sirius with a wide grin.

"I'll carry it, thanks." Remus tried to take the bag from Sirius grip, only managing to nearly fall face first onto the floor once more.

"Whoa, watch it." Sirius exclaimed, pulling Remus back into a standing position. "I'll take it." he said, swinging the bag on his other shoulder. "Thanks, Lily." he really was thankful in so many different ways.

"Yeah, just be careful." Lily smiled as she opened the door for Sirius, Remus and Tonks to walk through. "I'll see you tomorrow Remus. Make sure you get some ice."

"Thanks, Lily." Remus murmured. "See you tomorrow."

"Bye, Lils." Sirius said, holding Tonks' hand with his free hand, and Remus couldn't believe Sirius could hold onto so many things at once.

"Bye, Lily!" Tonks finally said before Sirius drove her away to the awaiting sports car as well.

Remus sighed both in relief and even more distress as Sirius helped him into the assistant's seat.

"I'll have Tonks to hold on to your bag for a while, okay?" Sirius asked, already handing Tonks Remus' old book bag.

Remus nodded defeatedly, and felt like nearly jumping out of his seat if he were in the right condition, as Sirius bent over him.

"Make sure you wear the safety belt." Sirius said, pulling out the belt.

"Right. Thanks." Remus took the seat belt from Sirius' hand, trying not to make eye contact.

"Tonks, y'okay to go?" Sirius asked as he closed the door of the assistant's seat and took a seat himself.

"Yup." Tonks replied joyfully.

"Good, let's go then." Sirius replied, as he started the car. "Where do you live, Remus?"

* * *

"Is this the right place?" Sirius asked carefully as he pulled over on the side of the road.

"Yes." Remus sighed, both in relief and annoyance. Of course Sirius would think he had came to the wrong place when Remus had just directed him to the most dingy neighborhood in London. Remus reached out to open the door of the car. "Thank you very much for the ride."

"Wait." Sirius said, and in a moment he was out of the car, already opening the door himself. "Here, I'll give you a hand."

"I think I can manage a few steps." Remus replied, trying to stand up without getting too near Sirius, which was really quite impossible.

"Come on, I'll help you up." Sirius insisted, taking hold of Remus' arm anyway.

Remus had no idea why he did not oppose and yank his arm out of Sirius' grasp, but instead allowed Sirius to assist him to the front of the old building that Remus was currently residing in.

"And here's your bag." Sirius said, handing Remus his bag.

"Thanks." Remus managed a small smile. He really should be grateful. It would have taken forever to get home if he had called a cab. No cab knew a short way to this neighborhood, and none of them bothered to take the shorter way even if they knew, since it only meant that the more they lingered on streets, the more Remus had to pay them. "Really. Thanks so much."

"No problem." Sirius grinned. "It wasn't much difficult anyway."

Remus nodded as he pressed on the doorbell before turning to Sirius.

"Bye." he said, as he heard creaking sounds and low mumbles from inside the building.

"Bye." Sirius replied, still grinning, but sounding a bit anxious as the muttering grew louder. "Tough landlady, huh?" he tried with feigned casualness.

"Yes and no." Remus managed, grinning despite himself. "Actually, she's my aunt. I live with her at the moment."

"Oh." Sirius seemed dumbstruck for a moment before turning very apologetic. "I'm so sorry. I mean, I'm not sorry that you live with your aunt or anything, but you know, mistaking.."

Remus laughed.

"It's okay." he managed before he heard his aunt calling "Remus? Remus John? Is that you? You're late!"

"Yes, it's me, Remus, Aunt Geraldine." he replied before turning to Sirius once more. "I better be going now, and so should you. She'll think that you're a visitor and either shoo you away or drag you in for dinner."

"I don't mind the latter." Sirius grinned. "I'm starving anyway." well, that was a great lie. Sirius didn't feel hungry from the moment he was able to help Remus out of the office.

"You'd regret that. She's a horrible cook as much as I am." Remus replied smiling. "I'll treat you to a meal later. Sorry for making you starve for a good hour." he nearly clasped his mouth when he finally noticed that he had just told Sirius he'd buy him dinner later.

Sirius' widening grin certainly didn't help Remus feel any better.

"Nah. If you don't mind, I think I'd like to buy you dinner later on." Sirius said, grinning like a mad man. "Tomorrow?"

And Remus did not have any time to object as he heard the door knob turning from inside.

He nodded, and hurriedly pushed Sirius from the door step, mouthing 'go now!'.

Sirius grinned and headed to the car, and Remus did not see the rest as the door opened and he saw his dear old Aunt Geraldine standing in front of him.

"Come in." she grumbled, before staring into the street and mumbling. "People these days..." and heading into the house.

Remus turned around just fast enough to catch Sirius landing back onto a floor, after what must have been a rather high jump, and smiled to himself before heading inside as well.

Maybe it would be okay to have dinner for once, and it would be certainly be okay to have dinner with someone who reads Morrison for whatever unknown reasons.

* * *

And that was chap. 3 :D

Hoped you enjoyed it.

Once again, review please please please


End file.
